Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Exterior Photography, Table, ChairBentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Interior Photography, GardenBentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Exterior PhotographyBentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Interior Photography, HandrailBentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - More Images+ 13

Toronto, Canada
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Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Exterior Photography, Table, Chair
© Samuel Engelking

Text description provided by the architects. Bentway Staging Grounds is a new type of public infrastructure that blends art and education, public space and experimentation, repositioning unused space beneath the Gardiner Expressway as a site of environmental regeneration. The design team, led by architectural designer Tei Carpenter (Agency-Agency, NYC) and architect/artist Reza Nik (SHEEEP, Toronto), transformed the vacant site into a living laboratory that educates visitors about urban ecology and stormwater management.

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Interior Photography, Garden
© Samuel Engelking

The installation collects runoff water from the highway above and leverages it to irrigate oversized planters in the space below. The planters hold flowering native plant species such as milkweed, agastache, and yarrow. The water filtration and retention help to reduce the risk of local flooding and prevent contaminants from polluting Toronto's gray water supply while growing an ecological environment.

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Exterior Photography
© Doublespace
Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Interior Photography
© Doublespace

Three large-scale scaffolding towers act as landscape buffers and new landmarks along Lake Shore Boulevard, showcasing a rotating program of public art that responds to the site's unique conditions. A network of ramps and elevated walkways allow visitors to travel deep into the space as an extension of Canoe Landing Park to the north.

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Image 16 of 18
Axo diagram

The project restores the site's historic, pre-industrial condition as a wetland on the shore of Lake Ontario that supported an ecosystem of freshwater plants and animals, birds, insects, and fish. It also reinvigorates the space, increasing safety for pedestrians and vehicles, enhancing visual and acoustic comfort, and building new connectivity to the nearby waterfront.

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Interior Photography
© Doublespace

Lessons learned from the experimental gardens will inform both the future Bentway-led redevelopment of this site, as well as continued opportunities along the Gardiner corridor. These strategies could one day be applied to the full 6.5km length of the Gardiner Expressway's elevated section.

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Interior Photography
© Mila Bright Zlatanovic
Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Exterior Photography
© Mila Bright Zlatanovic

The project builds on the success of Bentway Phase 1 and underscores Bentway's commitment to creating new public opportunities under the Gardiner Expressway. Through artistic, ecological, and recreational experiences, The Bentway is testing and demonstrating these opportunities in real-time, and demonstrating how both in Toronto and around the world, creativity can transform declining spaces and infrastructure into inspiring public assets.

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP - Exterior Photography, Windows, Cityscape
© Doublespace

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Address:Toronto, Canada

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About this office
Cite: "Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP" 17 May 2024. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1016686/bentway-staging-grounds-agency-agency-plus-sheeep> ISSN 0719-8884

© Samuel Engelking

Bentway Staging Grounds实验花园 / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP

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